Hot Chip announce ninth album A Long Way From Kansas
By Tourspider
October 19, 2026
Hot Chip are releasing their album A Long Way From Kansas in January 2027 and will play Paradiso in March 2027, with lead single "Random Violence" as a tribute to JD Twitch.
Hot Chip have announced their ninth studio album. A Long Way From Kansas is out on January 8, 2027 via Domino, following 2022's Freakout/Release. Alongside the announcement comes the first single, "Random Violence," with a video from director Jack Cole.
The title nods to The Wizard of Oz and fits the theme of the record: the search for something to hold on to, and for togetherness, in a chaotic world. According to reports, the band sounds rawer and more punk influenced on the album than before, with a strong focus on political unrest and violence. Frontman Alexis Taylor says the world the record was made in feels "particularly harsh, discordant, violent and depressing." That doesn't mean every song is about politics, he says, but the backdrop was impossible to ignore while making the music.
The album has eleven tracks and was recorded at Relax and Enjoy, Joe Goddard and Al Doyle's studio in east London. Beth Ditto features on "Me In Your Head" and Eddie Chacon on "The Garden." Band member Felix Martin sings on a Hot Chip album for the first time. Other tracks include "Stuck Around," "Waiting Around" and "Secular Hymns."
"Random Violence" is a tribute to Keith McIvor, the Scottish DJ known as JD Twitch of Optimo. He died in Glasgow last September from a brain tumor, just months after being diagnosed. "He was a big inspiration for the lyrics of the song," Goddard writes in a statement. "He was a passionate music lover and a committed socialist." Many of the lines refer directly to his death and to memories of Sub Club in Glasgow, where the band got to know him twenty years ago. In the song, Goddard and Taylor trade vocals, setting violence against acts of kindness.
The video features morris dancing group Boss Morris, in a celebration of remembrance and resistance. Al Doyle explains that the idea came from Optimo's Halloween parties at Sub Club. On October 21, Hot Chip will play a DJ set at Sub Club to honor McIvor.
There's good news for Dutch fans: as part of a European tour in 2027, the band plays Paradiso in Amsterdam on March 1. Earlier dates on the tour include Berlin, Brussels and Paris, followed by Dublin and several UK cities, with the tour wrapping up on March 12 at Exhibition White City in London.